$5.8 Million to Increase Number of Nurses and Other Health Care Professionals Secured by Senator Collins
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, announced today that she secured $5,810,000 for two key projects to expand workforce training for nursing and other health care professions in the Fiscal Year 2022 Labor and Health and Human Services Appropriations bill.
The omnibus funding package passed the House and the Senate and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
“Maine has the highest median age of any state in the nation, which presents unique challenges to the state’s health workforce for meeting the needs of its aging population. In addition, many of Maine’s residents reside in rural areas where there is often a lack of access to primary care,” said Senator Collins. “The pandemic has further highlighted how vital it is to have a sufficient number of medical professionals to keep Mainers healthy. I strongly advocated for this funding, which will help the University of New England and St. Joseph’s College strengthen their health care workforce training programs to increase the number of nurses and other health care workers in Maine.”
Details on the two Maine health care workforce development projects Senator Collins requested are below:
University of New England Institute for Interprofessional Education and Practice
Recipient: University of New England, Portland Campus
Amount: $5,000,000
Purpose: To support health care workforce training by expanding the University of New England’s Institute for Interprofessional Education and Practice. Maine is experiencing a shortage of health care professionals. The project aims to help the University develop new models for interprofessional education, clinical practice, and research needed for health care education and practice.
Center for Nursing Innovation at Saint Joseph’s College
Recipient: Saint Joseph’s College
Amount: $810,000
Purpose: To expand nursing workforce training by supporting the construction of a Simulated Hospital and Home Health Floor at Saint Joseph’s College Center for Nursing Innovation.
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